You may be concerned at this time about the food in your fridge and freezer. Food should keep for between 4-6 hours in the fridge and 15-24 hours in the freezer if you can avoid opening it.
You should keep the doors of your fridge and freezer closed.
Your fridge
Always make sure your fridge temperature is between 0 and 4°. If it is, your food products will keep perfectly cool for 4 to 6 hours provided you don’t open the fridge door.
N.B. The better stocked your fridge, the longer your food products will keep fresh.
Things you can keep and things you should bin after 6 hours:
| Keep | Bin |
| Hard cheese, processed cheese | Soft cheese, cream cheese |
| Butter, margarine | Milk, cream, crème fraiche, yoghurt (opened) |
| Yoghurt | Dishes and desserts prepared with raw eggs and cooked eggs |
| Eggs |
Vegetable juice (opened), fresh fruit juice, cooked vegetables (including soups), processed raw fruit and vegetables |
| Whole fresh fruit and vegetables | Dishes and products prepared with meat, poultry, fish and seafood, whether raw or cooked |
| Pasteurised fruit juice | All ready meals and leftovers |
Your freezer
The temperature should go no higher than -18°. This will keep the foods frozen for 48 hours, as long as you do not open your freezer door and your freezer is properly stocked. Frozen foods keep each other cold, which helps them keep longer. Having said that, if the freezer is only half-stocked, the foods will remain frozen for 24 hours.
What to keep and what to bin:
| For refreezing | For quick consumption | To be binned |
|
Food products with the centre still hard |
Blocks of hard cheese |
Dishes and products prepared with meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, defrosted eggs... |
| Defrosted raw foods as long as their temperature did not exceed 4°, but only after you have been cooked them | Bread, muffins, pastry without cream filling and defrosted fruit | ...whether raw or cooked! |
More information on what to do in a power cut.
